€1 billion for the environment

The government would be spending €1 billion to meet its climate change aims, parliamentary secretary Chris Said said yesterday.

Speaking at a PN activity in Xagħra, Dr Said said the drive towards meeting climate change targets was "not something imposed from above" but the government's initiative for a better environment.

"When the government comes out with a proposal, one may think that this is now law. Often, however, after public consultation the government did not mind changing the policy in order to bring about effective change," Dr Said said.

In the same meeting, Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono said Milan-based card manufacturing company Bryvarc had set up a factory in Gozo.

Mrs Debono said she had been introduced to an Italian delegation seeking an overseas base, and after keeping in touch and liaising with the chairman of Malta Enterprise, the company moved to Xewkija.

Currently, Mrs Debono said, the company employs around 15 people but is planning to employ over 60 people in the future. The employees' wages are being subsidised under the Gozo Employment Aid Scheme, which provides half the pay and half the National Insurance paid by the employer for 52 weeks.

Bryvarc, based in Milan, is part of the Da Card SA group, a smart card focused industrial group which designs and manufactures plastic cards, smart cards, scratch cards, fidelity and gift cards.

The Gozo Minister said the Eco-Gozo vision was slowly taking shape thanks to the €25 million allocated in the budget - but she was afraid the money wouldn't be enough, she added half-jokingly.

Eco-Gozo was built on the environment, the economy, society and culture, the minister said, drawing on the Isle of Wight as an example of an island which had adopted the eco-island ethos.

Among the projects aiming at this vision, the minister said that treated wastewater would start being provided for free for irrigation purposes in a bid to stop illegal water extraction. To this end, 30 sites for reservoirs have been identified, Mrs Debono said.

The minister said HSBC would sponsor four forestation projects in Marsalforn, Qortin, Nadur and Fort Chambray; last week, Francis Sullivan, HSBC environment advisor, visited the island and agreed the bank would sponsor environmental projects on the island.